Means for protecting shores or building jetties



(No Model.)

T. S. WILKINSON.

MEANS FOR PROTECTING SHORES ORSBUILDING JBTTIES.

No. 600,467. Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

FIB-.5- FIE-.5- F1117 Wflmeooeo I I t (ll Comma 5 THE norms wzrzas co,PNoYO-LIYNQ. vmsuhmmm, n. c

UNrrnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE S. \VILKINSON, OF MYRTLE GROVE, LOUISIANA.

MEANS FOR PROTECTING SHORES OR BUILDING JETTIES:

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,467, dated March 8,1898.

Application filed September 3,1897. Serial No. 650,521. (No model.)

T 0 aaZZ whom it Duty concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE S. WILKIN- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Myrtle Grove, in the parish of Plaquemines and Stateof Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Meansfor Protecting Shores or Building J etties and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in means for protecting shores orfor building jetties; and it consists in providing certain improvedmeans for building mattresses or the like, whereby the shore isprotected from erosion or the jetty is built in whole or in part.

My said invention will be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which the same parts are indicated by the same lettersthroughout the several views.

Figure 1 represents a plan view of the bank of a stream, showing myimproved means as used to prevent erosion. Fig.2 represents a sideelevation of a portion of a mattress or jetty constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 3 represents a similar view of a modification ofthe same. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 represent various forms of bands ofmaterial whose specific gravity is heavier than Water and adapted foruse with my invention. Fig. 8 represents a diagrammatic view of severalof the sections of the mattresses or jetties constructed in accordancewith my invention and secured together by a rope or chain for usewherever there is considerable current.

A represents a part of a stream or river, the direction of whose currentis indicated by the arrow.

B represents the bank of the stream, which in Fig. 1 is represented asin the form of a levee, which is shown as eroded on its front face, asat I), and protected, as at D, by a plurality of bundles of themattresses or jetties constructed in accordance with my invention.

WVhile I have shown the banks of the river as in the form of a levee B,the same means of protection against erosion of the bank would beapplicable to almost any form of bank ordinarily found by runningstreams, more especially where the bank is of soft material, sand, orthe like.

D, Fig. 2, represents one of the sections or parts of the mattress orjetty, which consists of a plurality of pieces of willowor other brush,cane, or the like, having branches and preferably the leaves thereon, asindicated at d, and which have their lower ends shoved from oppositesides into the ring or band E. In the form of device shown at D in Fig.3 the portions of willow, cane, or other brush are shoved into the bandfrom one side only.

This band may be made cylindrical, as shown at E in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and8, but it may be made of any desired or preferred shapesuch, forinstance, as the shapes E E E (Shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7.) In thelatter figure the band shown is provided with studs or projections eadapted to engage into the ground or the brush beneath; but this may beomitted, if desired.

In Fig. 8 the plurality of sections, which may be made as shown in thisfigure or as shown in Fig. 3 and which may be provided with bands of anydesired shape or form, are secured together by the rope F, which, afterthese sections have been placed into the Water, are secured to the stakeor stump G or to any other convenient place.

The bands E and E should preferably be made of cast-iron or other cheapand heavy material which has a specific gravity considerably greaterthan water; but I do not desire to limit myself to any particularmaterial for this purpose so long as the material selected has aspecific gravity sufficiently greater than water to readily sink themass of brush secured by the band.

The operation of the device is as follows: Where the current is notgreat, a plurality of the sections such as are shown in Figs. 2 and 3,with bands such as are shown in Figs. 4 and 7, are thrown into the waterat the point where it is desired to protect the shores from erosion orto build up the jetty. The band causes the lighter material to sink intothe water, and the mass, reaching the bottom, will settle there, if thecurrent be not too strong, and the brush will cause the water to depositits sediment, forming a jetty or a pro tection to the shore to beprotected. Where the current of water is slight, cylindrical bands andapproximately cylindrical bundles of brush may be used, as shown inFigs. 1, 2, 3, and 4; but where the current is somewhat stronger bandsshaped like those in Figs. 5 to 7 may be used, which will allow thebundle of brush to roll slightly until it reaches stable equilibrium,when the strength of the water will not be sufficient to upset thebundle and when the sediment will speedily deposit, firmly holding thebundle in position' The prongs 6 (shown in Fig. 7) would serve to engagethe mud in the bottom of the stream or in the brush of any ofthe bundlesbeneath and would tend to prevent the upper bundle from sliding alongthe bottom; but these prongs are not always necessary and may ordinarilybe omitted, if desired. Where the current is so strong as to roll orcarry away the bundles, it may be desired to secure the same one behindanother or in any other convenient wayfor instance, as shown in Fig.8-and then to secure a line of these bundles to a stake or stump or someother convenient object, as shown in Fig. 8. It will be obvious that anumber of tiers of these bundles may be piled one upon the other eitherby simply throwing them in, one bundle at a time, as illustrated in Fig.1 or by using several lines of these bundles, as shown in Fig. 8, andtying them all to one or more objects, such as a stump or stake G, bymeans of one or more ropes or chains. In this Way a bank may beprotected against erosion or jetties may be provided when desired. Itwill also be obvious that numbers of these bundles may be piled inbetween lines of piling or in front of a single line of piling whendesired, the weight of the bands being sufficient to submerge the bundleand thus in a large measure prevent erosion beneath the same.

It will be obvious that a great many modifications of theherein-described bundles might be made which could be used withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

In the method of building jetties as now ordinarily practiced anexpensive plant is required and considerable difficulty is experiencedin providing mattresses and in holding them down with. stone. Wheresmall jetties are required or it is desired to protect againstcomparatively slight erosion, the methods now ordinarily adopted are tooexpensive, and the herein-described invention provides a simple, cheap,and convenient means for building small jetties and for protecting banksagainst erosion either on a small scale or when certain emergenciesarise and it is impracticable to take advantage of the larger plantsordinarily required.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is w 1. In an apparatus forprotecting shores against erosion or for building jetties or the like, abundle consisting of a band of heavy material with brush held thereby,the said band being adapted to hold and to sink the brush substantiallyas described.

2. In an apparatus for protecting shores against erosion or for buildingjetties or the like, a bundle of brush having the large ends stuck intoa heavy band on opposite sides thereof, and interpenetrating,substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for protecting shores against erosion or for buildingjetties or the like, the combination with a plurality of bundles ofbrush, each held together by a heavy band adapted to hold and sink thebrush, of a rope or chain secured to each of the said bundles andattached to some fixed object, substantially as and .for the purposesdescribed.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE S. WILKINSON.

Witnesses:

F. O. YEATES, PERCY O. BOWEN.

